Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

Dr. Laura Junor was confirmed by the Senate as the Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness on July 31, 2014. As the Principal Deputy, Dr. Junor advises the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness in all matters across the portfolio including recruitment, pay and benefits for active, reserve and Guard components as well as all DoD civilians and career development. She is the focal point within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) on readiness of the Armed Services, developing and overseeing policies and programs to ensure the Total Force; Active, National Guard and Reserve, of the United States are ready for the missions assigned by the President and the Secretary of Defense. She also serves as the co-chair of the Readiness Management Group and Executive Readiness Management Group.

Dr. Junor previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness, where she built the foundation of OSD’s current readiness and training portfolio by maintaining close relationships throughout the Services and Joint Staff, ensuring thorough collaboration and transparency in decision making. Further, she led major DoD-wide initiatives that included the development of the real-time readiness reporting system, a transformed training environment for joint forces, the Defense Language enterprise sustainable military training ranges, as well as being the founding member of Readiness Management Group.

Prior to her roles in Personnel and Readiness, Dr. Junor served as Chief of Staff, Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation. Working in the private sector from 2006 to 2009, Dr. Junor collaborated with the Department of Homeland Security, the National Guard Bureau, and agencies within several states to develop a common lexicon for improving communication and capability flows in the event of domestic crises. From 1994 to 2006, she directed readiness research for the Center of Naval Analysis (CNA). Her work at CNA guided decisions on personnel quality and quantity, logistics and maintenance management, unit and individual training, and sourcing options.

A native of the D.C. metropolitan area, Dr. Junor graduated from Goucher College in Towson, Maryland with honors in economics. She received her Ph.D. in economics from George Mason University.